Darkness
by loneriver
Summary: A Girl wakes up in a dark place, and ends up having to search for an saphire colored scale. It's called the Saphira Libra, and either she finds it or they will kill her. Rate and Review!
1. The Dream

Darkness swept over my whole entire body; and I tried to turn around, but I was paralyzed in the cold, still air. I tried to open my mouth to shout for help, but not even that would move, as I struggled to be free of the darkness.

A voice icily emanated from all directions. "There is no use to struggle…" It sounded as if it was a male speaking. "You will never survive…"

I continued to struggle, ignoring what the voice had said. I wanted to retort something back, but my mouth was still paralyzed. In a sudden jolt, my mouth opened something and I something really random came out, as I was trying to say something—anything I could say I would say. "Flying ducks!"

The voice sounded surprised as it rang through the emptiness. "Flying…ducks?" It said, but I was laughing so hard I could barely hear him, anyway.

"A-apparently," It was tough for me to say just that; I was laughing so hard. I did say apparently, though, for, in front of my eyes, a flying duck flew right into something or other, and out from the darkness appeared a man, with reddish hair, and azure eyes that glared icily at me.

"You…" He muttered under his breath. "I had thought that they had killed you, years ago." I stared at him confused. Killed me, years ago? But earlier I had thought that I was going to die right there.

"I…I am sorry, sir, I think you have the wrong maiden, though," Although he was clearly evil, I used common courtesy—or uncommon courtesy, to get on his good side.

"It is obvious that even if you are the right maiden, you would be of no use to me. I can either dispose of you, or let you off. Which shall it be…?" Speaking coldly, the young man placed two pieces of paper on the cold…nothingness. Opening his mouth to speak, he said, "By the way, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Hezraith." As I looked at his azure eyes, I saw what was beneath that cold stare. He looked lonely.

"What are you doing?" I spoke softly, but my voice still rung throughout the whole area, echoing countless times before finally fading away. It made him look more depressed, to hear the echo of another human,

"Consider it a game, only with the risk of losing your life as you play." Hezraith explained. "All you have to do is choose one of these two cards. One has a very difficult task. The other card has a very simple task, like perhaps saying a word, such as my name." As he explained, pressure gripped my stomach, and I hoped to god that I got the 'easy' card. Realizing that I was in such deep thought during his explanation, that I had missed nearly everything he had said, except his final statement. "You had better been paying attention, too. For if you have, I would've already told you which card is which."

That was not fair! He _knew_ that I wasn't listening, and told me the answer! "O-okay…" I said, shakily, for if I anger him at all, I know he will not give me this chance. In front of me lay two cards. Hesitantly, I reached out for the one on the left of me. If I had only brought a flashlight, perhaps I would've been able to see through it! My stomach was still clenched with uneasiness as I started to read the card aloud. "Hard." The word tugged at me like it was trying to rip out my heart. "You must…" My eyes widened in shock as I read what I was to do. "You must find this extremely rare item." Below the item was a beautiful azure scale. "It is called 'Saphira Libra'." I looked up at Hezraith.

"Ah, yes, that quest. In the 4,000 years I have been alive not one soul was able to complete that quest." A glint was in the red-headed man's eye. "They were either killed, gave up—which in turn lead to death, or perhaps they even spent there whole life looking for it. I honestly believe you may be the one to find it, though." He looked thoughtfully at me, for the first time since I had come. "There is only one in the world, but I won't tell you where it is, of course."

I nodded, and the dark world I was just in started to fade into light, blinding my eyes momentarily at the sudden change in lighting. As my eyes opened, I realized that the whole time I wasn't **really** there, but instead sort of…dreaming. As a matter of fact, I would've treated it as a dream if there wasn't a card in front of me saying 'hard' and what I was supposed to do. Sighing, I got out of the bed, to realize that I was only 'asleep' for an a couple hours.

"Risa, get up! It's time to eat breakfast!" A voice sounded over other echoes of the rest of my family. My mum, not my brother and sister (Thank god!), but not my dad either…was something wrong? He was the one who usually called me down…

"I'm coming!" Shouting at the top of my lungs, I took my pajamas off and tossed some clothes on, and ran down my stairs to the kitchen at full speed. It was really hard to believe I was the same person as the one in the dream—the one that wasn't Hezraith…I felt so much more mature when I was in that dream. "Sorry I took so long…where's dad?" I asked, and then suddenly realized with a jolt that the paper I was holding was gone. "H-hold on, mom!" I could've sworn I had them! I looked through the whole house, it couldn't have gone far!

"What are you looking for, dear?" My mom inquired, her tone was kind, and I could tell she just wanted to know incase she had happened to found it and put it somewhere, or one of my brother's and sister's mentioned it to her, but I just shook me head.

"Never mind, mom, I will find it later," Eating breakfast, I looked back to everything that had happened in my dream. Everything felt so distant…like it had never happened, but they also felt so…real, like I wasn't asleep. I decided to dismiss the whole happening altogether. I was enjoying myself, and if I can manage to 'pretend' to be looking for it, I will be fine then, won't I?


	2. Forgotten

3 years later…

By this time I completely forgot that my dream had ever happened. I was walking down a sidewalk, towards my school. God, I couldn't wait for school to be over, most of my teachers are torture. The only few that aren't torture are jerks anyway. Maybe I was just unlucky.

One of my friends ran up to me. "Hey, Risa, guess what!" I looked at her curiously, she was obviously very excited.

"What?" I looked at her; thankfully I wasn't near late to school yet. My friend, Janice, was practically floating she was so excited!

"You know that dream you had a couple years ago?" Suddenly I remembered about it. My friend had an amazing memory for that kind of stuff. I nodded slightly, and she continued. "Well, the Saphira Libra, it was found! That weird scale you told me about…the one that we both decided never existed exists!" I looked at her, it was real? I sighed I will have to find it, after all.

"Well, I guess I will have to go look for it then," I said, then jogged up to my school, before I was late. "Maybe over the weekend, okay!" My friend ran after me, shouting, 'wait! One more thing!" but before she could say anything else I ran into the building, not wanting to be late.

_I stared as the girl entered her school, not even bothering to ask her friend where exactly the Saphira Libra was. Sighing, I heard a voice behind me._

_"It seems she has forgotten all about you, Hezraith," A young feminine voice was heard behind me. I scowled as I turned and saw a young female, with long, black hair._

_"Seiane," I hissed, she was the most annoying women anyone would be able to think of. "What do you want now?" _

_"Oh, nothing, I just wanted to remind you that if it was **me** telling that girl about the Saphira Libra, it may not have ended up this way." Ha, like she could get that brunette to get the Saphira Libra better then I could. She had the worst record of people doing her tasks then anyone I know! Pretty much everybody just decides not to do it when Seiane explains it to them. She makes it sound like they have a **choice**. They all end up dying, anyway._

_"Oh? Then explain. If I recall, you almost never get anybody to do a single task for you." I scoffed at her, making her lose her cool attitude for a second or two._

_"You little"—Seiane paused, and then turned around, –"Worm." She started to walk away into the darkness that surrounded us. Yes, we live in darkness. Thankfully it was more then just the two of us. I would've committed suicide already if it was._

The bell rang. "Errring! Errring!" Finally, school was over today! Only a couple weeks left! Maybe I can just hold out that quest for a couple more weeks, when school is over.

"Hey, Risa," Janice called to me as she walked over. "Well? Are you going to look for it? The man's name who has it is Heesrath." I laughed.

"Don't you mean Hezraith?" I asked, although I wouldn't have asked so openly to her if she didn't know about my dream. Come to think of it, I really never want to go into detail about that dream again.

"Yeah, whatever," She replied, and then I realized with a sudden jolt that _Hezraith_ had it! I could've gotten it during my dream! Then I realized something else that disturbed me. _How did she know that Hezraith had it?_ I wondered. _Come to think of it, I met her a couple of days after my dream. Could this be a trap made by Janice? Ugh, I hate that name, Janice._ I know, I know, my last thought was kind of random.

I narrowed my eyes. "How do you know that Hezraith has it?" I asked, making her eyes give off a little nervousness, even though the rest of her body didn't betray her next lie.

"S-some weird guy t-told me…" Janice stammered, then said, "B-but that's not important…what is important is finding the Saphira Libra. We should go." She turned around before I could reply, and started walking, but to where, I had no idea. Sighing, I followed her, I had no choice, after all, it would be bad to show I was suspicious; maybe she really _isn't_ working for Hezraith.

_Good, good. She is coming. Hezraith was very smart to send that girl to Risa. The fool doesn't expect a thing. Or, if she does, she isn't following her instincts. I was smart to choose Hezraith after all, over Seiane. I had some doubts about him at first, but the way he does it, it's amazing he is the youngest one here, honestly. _

_"Sir?" A voice echoed into my throne room, and standing before me was Seine. The most annoying of all 7 of us, Hezraith, me, Seiane, Psinia, Filera, Ralinque, and Firno; I myself as the oldest; although, somebody is missing, they have been missing for centauries. I know because one of our rooms is empty._

_"What now, Seiane?" The women cringed at my tone, but started to speak, a little bit more hesitantly then before. She knows very well I can kill her, with a single snap of my finger. She was witnessed me kill someone, just by making a fist, for that, to the person, felt like I was squeezing their heart. Ever since then Seiane was nervous about being around me, although, nobody else was. _

_"Sir…Tsuinami," She said, again. "Why have you entrusted that infantile Hezraith for this task, when he is so young? I should've been the one chosen to have it!" As her sentence progressed, her confidence rose. Her last statement was how she normally sounded, when she wasn't around me, that is._

_"I entrusted it with him **because** he is younger, and thus should be allowed to prove himself," Yes, he is the youngest, but he has always been trusted since the first task he received. Much, much more trustworthy then Seiane, he was._

_"But"—She began, but I lifted my hand into the air—they were all my 'pawns' like pieces in an elaborate chess game. Honestly, I never cared what happened to all of them. They were just useful, but not needed. –"I am sorry, sir," She mumbled, and left the room, obviously in a hurry not to die. I would kill her off someday, and she knew it._

"Where are we?" I asked Janice, but when I looked to where she was—or should've been, because I noticed that she was gone. We were in a damp, humid forest, but it wasn't it rain forest, I could tell. "Janice?" I shouted, but no answer. Maybe she really did send me into a trap. I was about to shout one more time, but before I could, Janice emerged from a couple of shrubs holding some berries! "Are you…sure those aren't poison?" I asked her.

"Of course not, I had a berry a little while back that looked just like this! Try it!" She urged me to take the berry and eat it, and I did take it, but before I ate it, I thought a little, to make sure I knew what I was doing. _Would she really try to harm me? I have no other way to find out…_ I braced myself, and took a bite out of the berry. "See?" She asked me. "I told you it wasn't poison!" Before she could continue, I took more berries, they were actually very good! After eating a lot of them, she finally continued. "Worse. They knock you out. Then I can make you do whatever I tell you to, think of it as hypnosis. Since you ate so many berries, you probably are going to be knocked out soon. Once you are hypnotized, whenever you are about to snap out of it, I will just tell you to eat more berries," She stood up, and then finished with, "Have a nice nap." Right after she finished I fell to the ground, and felt as though I was sleeping.


	3. Psinia

_"Well, look what the cat dragged in!" I shouted, as the girl Hezraith sent had brought Risa to me. "Why is she sleeping?" I inquired, although I knew perfectly well that she wasn't sleeping, she passed out, it seemed._

_"I fed her the berries, Hezraith. I know it wasn't part of my orders, but I thought it may be useful to keep her, as I hypnotized slave. Just like me." The girl replied. _

_"Good idea, Fiyeln." I replied, simply. "Now, you may go to your room." Although I said you may, she knew, as well as I did, that I meant she had to leave to her room; I was no person with patience. The girl nodded, and started to leave, but before she left, she turned around, _

_"Yes sir, Tsuinami." After replying, Fiyeln turned, leaving to her room. The servant's room, as everyone calls it. She was the only one, but because she had brought Risa to me, she shall go there as well—along with her new name._

I had the same cold sensation sweep over me as the day when I first entered the darkness. Was this another dream, or was it real? I couldn't tell, it felt so real…but yet…how could it be? It was…weird. My body felt so numb, like I didn't own it anymore, I was just a…something, something there just to move it. How could it be real?

"Ah, so you are awake." A cold voice—colder then the one coming from Hezraith spoke to me, I felt chills crawling up my back, or, if I can really call it my back, for it felt so much like someone else's. That same feeling…like I can't move…it was back, just like the other day, years and years ago. "Get up." The words rung through my body, and although I still had no control over this body—I can't really call it my body anymore—I stood up, obediently, to face his cold, smirking face. He started to get up, and I saw that, although he had a throne to sit on, he didn't dress at all like a prince, or king.

Finally, able to open my mouth—but nothing besides, I asked, "What…did you do?" He looked surprised that I was able to speak, like I wasn't supposed to. Then I remembered Janice, how she had fed me those berries, and later explained what they did. _So that's why I can't move my body, and I stood up when he told me too! _

"He did nothing, M'dear." A familiar voice was heard behind me, it sounded so distant, but familiar. I wanted to turn around, and face whoever spoke, but my body was still paralyzed, so I couldn't.

"You may see who it is, Slave." It was cruel how he treated me…did he have something…against me? I turned, to face _him._ I never expected it, honestly, although it was obvious who it should've been. I guess I just blanked.

"Did you forget about me, Risa?" It was Hezraith speaking. "You didn't do your task yet. It must've slipped my mind to tell you that there was a dead line." He emphasized the word dead, perhaps in case I didn't understand his _pun_.

"If that was supposed to be a joke, it wasn't very funny!" I shouted, struggling to be able to move. All of a sudden I felt a tight pressure enclosing my body, suffocating me, then nothing. Was I…dead? No, I can still hear voices…it sounded like Janice…and that other guy, on the throne.

Janice asked him what to do with me, and if he killed me. She said it would've been nice to have a partner helping her serve you, and that after a while, I would even enjoy it. It made me slightly happy, to think that I may not have to suffer serving them, and being under there rule, because it seemed as though he truly did plan my death, despite their previous plans to turn me into a 'slave'. Janice also said his name—it was Tsuinami. He addressed Janice as Fiyeln... perhaps that was her true name? Well, anyway, he said no, that I was just knocked out, and that I was probably listening right now. Either way, they could control me as they pleased. There was a silence. After a couple moments, Janice asked him what my new name was. What new name? I never got to hear though; his voice was drowned out by Hezraith yelling at someone or other. I suppose he answered Janice—or Fiyeln, now, though, because she said oh. Then there was another silence, and after what felt like and eternity, I woke, to find myself cleaning the cold, dark, ground that I couldn't even see. Then Janice—or _Fiyeln _as her name apparently is, bounced by.

"Hiya, Acsea!" She said, and then she paused, hesitantly. "That's your new name, since you are now under the rule Tsuinami…but you could become one of the task givers, if you are here for long enough." Fiyeln looked around, making sure that nobody was nearby, I suppose, then whispered, "You are now immortal, like me and everyone else—you can die, though, if someone murder's you." This made me curious, for she probably shouldn't have told me—or, she probably wasn't supposed too, anyway.

"Why are you telling me this?" I demanded, and her eyes betrayed her nervousness--as they always did. nervous. Did she think I wanted to stay with all of these jerks controlling me already?

"Because, I…I thought you may want to try to escape with me. Please, come with me. A-at least don't tell the others"—she broke off as a young, purple haired woman walked in. I looked towards Fiyeln, who looked nervous, well; from her eyes she looked nervous, anyway.

"Fiyeln, what are you telling this girl?" Fiyeln cringed, and by the looks of her face it seemed she was thinking quickly, she was just about to open her mouth to speak but I finished her to it.

"She was just about to tell me my new name!" I shouted, quickly, making her raise her eyebrow, as if she suspected something. The woman was silent for a few moments, as if thinking about what to say.

"Oh? What is your new name then?" She asked, finally. "Well, I suppose I should introduce myself, first, if I am going to question you about your name. The name I have been given is Psinia."

_She seems nice…well, just like they say! You can't judge a book by its cover; after all, maybe she is like everybody else… _


	4. The Truth about Psinia

_On top of my throne, I looked across the room to see what was happening with Risa, only after Psinia woke me up and told me that she was going to see what we were doing. Although I said that there was no need to look to see what they were doing, she insisted that she should, and somehow convinced me that it was a good idea. Psinia was always a bright one, I could give her that._

_"Tsunami," The voice was brisk, and I could tell that it was Hezraith who called my name. He truly wasn't one for respect, although I have to admit that I enjoy having one disrespectful pawn, and either way, he always does what he gets assigned, and nearly never fails, even if the person he assigns does. They never fail because they just don't want to search; they fail because they just can't find their object. Of course, there are some lucky ones who pick the easy task card, although it rarely happens. Hezraith is the only one who uses the card tactic, although I rarely do any of the tasks. "Why is Psinia interrogating Risa?" _

_The question took me surprise; Hezraith usually didn't care for any matters between the 'victim' and others that lived in the darkness. That is, unless Seiane was the one doing it. Had he, perhaps, have feelings for this one? "I gave her permission. Why do you ask?" He flinched a bit, as if they question took him off guard._

_"No reason." He answered simply. Then he opened his mouth to speak again. "I just thought Psinia had some more important tasks." I looked at him, confused for a moment; then I realized that he was right. I had a task for Psinia. _

_He could tell that I realized that he was right, and started to turn to leave. "I wonder who the unlucky one is." Psinia uses a lot of mind tricks to get everybody she gets assigned to do what she wants, and they almost always work, too, unless they cracked before she was even finished with them. Psinia did a good job scaring them into doing what she wants. _

"So, then, if Fiyeln told you your name"—she didn't have time to finish, for I started to correct her before she had time to.

"No, Fiyeln didn't tell me yet, she was just about to." I interrupted, becoming nervous as I saw Fiyeln's eyes betraying her nervousness. Hoping that I haven't insulted her or anything, I added politely, "But, um, I guess Fiyeln can tell both of us?"

Right after speaking again, I realized that Fiyeln **had** told me what my new name was. It was too late, though, and Fiyeln nodded to me and started to tell Psinia—just her, because I remembered what my new name was already, although I doubted that Fiyeln knew that. "Acsea," She said, and I looked at her, recognizing my new name. "Why are you looking at me like that? I was just telling Psinia what your new name was…"

"Oh." I replied, before adding—just to clarify why I had looked at Fiyeln like that, "It was nothing, I just thought that you were asking me something…" To my surprise, Psinia didn't react to Fiyeln just informing her about my new name, instead telling me as well.

Psinia nodded, before turning away, heading to what I imagine was the throne room, since the door was painted with a red that looked almost ancient—for an effect, I suppose, and a shiny gold outlining on the door, that looked like ivy. In the center of the door was a big star, with one circle in each opening between to of the edges.

"What was that all about, Fiyeln?" I asked her, cautiously, and also quietly. "Why were you so nervous?" When I had asked her that, she looked even more nervous. Glancing around to make sure nobody was there, she replied, as softly as I had asked her,

"Psinia can read minds." I looked at my friend in horror as the words quietly rung from her mouth. I looked down and tried to find the right words to tell her what I did, but when I looked up I saw Fiyeln understood that I thought—when Psinia was there—about me and Fiyeln's escape plans. It was going to get a lot more dangerous if we stuck around…not like we could, anyway.

"Psinia can…read minds?" I echoed, half to myself. "It seems I don't have any choice then. We have to go…now!" It wasn't like I was ever going to choose to stay even if I hadn't known that, anyway.

_Well, I had some news for Tsuinami, now, didn't I? He wouldn't be pleased to find out that our _trustworthy _Fiyeln had decided to run off with Acsea, now would he? Of course he wouldn't, although not much pleased him, now-a-days._

_"Tsuinami," I spoke briskly as I entered his throne room, not caring much that he made decisions and what-not. "It seems our slaves are planning to escape." When I had entered the room, his face was a normal, slightly tanned color, but as I spoke to him now, his face was turning into a bright red. Obviously he wasn't so happy about my news, but, isn't that what I told you earlier? Of course it is. He opened his mouth, but I knew what he was going to say before he even said it. He was going to say 'tell me everything you know, Psinia.' _

_"Tell me everything you know, Psinia." He knew there was no point in speaking, seeing as I already knew what I was going to say, but he spoke anyway, which was good, Seiane, jealous of my power to read minds, always annoyed me by just talking to me with her mind. I nodded my head before speaking._

_"It seems…that Fiyeln and Acsea are going to attempt to escape," Tsuinami was about to speak, until he saw that I hadn't yet finished. He knew that if I didn't finish, if he didn't let anyone finish, he could possibly miss some extremely crucial, and in this case he was right. "They are planning to walk over to the door. That's where they will go through to leave. Of course, it's always guarded, but if the manage to get into Seiane's room, well, they could manage to get in very easily. You should know why." He nodded his head, thoughtfully, although I'm sure he knew that it wouldn't be so easy as they thought, Seiane always guards her room carefully. Fiyeln never knew that, though. We never trusted her to know any information about us. It doesn't make a difference, though. Acsea must still obey any of us and Fiyeln would be too much of a coward to leave on her own. She always was too much of a coward. Finally Tsuinami replied:_

_"You know what to do."_


	5. Found Out

I looked curiously to Fiyeln, who nodded. It was time to go—before anyone found out. And at this rate, Tsuinami probably did already from Psinia. I guess I really couldn't judge a book by its cover, because under her polite…body, Psinia really was like everyone else. My mind started to wander, wondering about whether Fiyeln made the same misjudgment of character as I did when as I did about Psinia the first time Fiyeln met her.

"Let's go." Fiyeln said quickly, and was getting ready to make a dash for it, when I stopped her. She looked at me, confused, as I shook my head.

"No…" I trailed, looking around cautiously incase anyone was near. "I'll go, Fiyeln. It's too dangerous for both of us to get caught. And anyway, they'll probably be on the lookout for you, so you should hide." I honestly didn't want Fiyeln to get caught; she spent too much time with Hezraith and everybody else. If anyone, she should be the one who gets to live, and know what it's like to be in the real world, that is, if my whole life so far hasn't just been a dream, anyway.

"Okay, if you say so…" Fiyeln replied reluctantly. I knew should would rather go herself, and let me be the one to live, because where would she go? I already had a family and everything. But that's exactly why I think she should be the one to live. So when she died…at least she would've had had **some** happiness in her otherwise horrible life.

I nodded, and asked Fiyeln for the directions to Seiane's—I think that's what Fiyeln called her-- room. After she had told me, I walked to where she pointed to. While I was heading for Seiane's room, though, I had time to think. I thought a lot, too. Some examples of things I thought are these: What if this is a trap? What I will go into Seiane's room, and instead of finding that…thing I'm supposed to find, I find Seiane and Fiyeln comes and it turns out they had planned this all along? I shook my head, how could I think such things? Fiyeln had been helping me this whole time. Then, I thought…What if this **is** a trap? What would be the point in bringing me here if…then it hit me. Maybe the Saphira Libra **was** here! Then I could finish my task! But would there be a point? After I escape? Maybe it was a lie, though…maybe she was just trying to lure me here…

What was I talking about! She would probably risk her life to save me! Or, at least, that's what it seemed like she'd do, anyway. Ugh, I just can't shake off the thought that this is all just a trap…

Then I realized that I had already passed Seiane's door. I quickly, but quietly, dashed to the door Seiane's room. The door was pink. Kind of like a hot pink, but slightly different. I cringed as I looked at it. It wasn't what I expected at all…and I hated the color pink! After looking around quickly, I dashed into the room. When I saw what the room looked like, I stood there, gaping like an idiot. It was pink. A lush, pink, girly bed was on the farthest corner of the room. This was not what I expected at all.

I looked around the room, just to make sure there were no traps, or anything. From all that I saw, it was completely and utterly safe. Seiane must've probably thought she, or someone else could've just watched the room themselves.

I took a few, cautious steps into the room. So far, I was safe. I dashed around the room, stopping abruptly whenever I felt as thought I had heard something, or I thought my footstep was too loud. My heart was thumping pretty loudly now—loud enough to make me worry if someone can hear it, and that worry just made her heart beat faster.

"Okay," I thought silently to myself. "Fiyeln said something about a bookshelf, or case, or something…I needed a necklace. That was all I knew. Fiyeln said it looked really, really, nice. She said...it had a star hanging off the chain, surrounded by turquoise. The chain was kind of big…

Then I found it, it looked just how Fiyeln described it. I had found it just in time, too, because I heard footsteps coming close to the door; which was a bad thing, considering I forgot to close the door…which could also be a good thing—if we get technical. Quickly, I placed the necklace around my neck, hoping that this was indeed the right necklace. I saw Psinia pass Seiane's room, and my chest tightened, my breathe coming out as quietly as I could make it—although still very loud. Psinia could read minds. She could tell I was there, even if she can't see me, as long as my mind keeps chattering away like this. She was about to walk into Seiane's room, when another women with jet black hair.

"What are you doing, going into my room?" The girl demanded—of course, it was Seiane. It was Seiane's room Psinia was going to enter, after all. Psinia didn't look worried by the presence of Seiane at all, though—actually, Psinia looked rather annoyed.

"I hear somebody in your room, so get out of the way." Psinia replied, coolly. "Now," She said, not losing her composure to the infuriated Seiane. I don't think I would want to be caught walking into to Seiane's room by Seiane…she definitely had a short-fuse.

"I don't see anyone in there, Psinia. So go." Seiane replied, angrily. I hoped Psinia would listen to Seiane and go, despite the fact that I had so much thoughts going through my head there was no chance of Psinia not being able to sense me. And she knows my voice, too! Was that why she walked up to me and Fiyeln and started talking to us? So she can recognize me voice?

"Just because you can't see anyone, doesn't mean that nobody's there. Go check yourself," Psinia pointed her chin to where Seiane's bookshelf was located. "Maybe Acsea has already taken your prized necklace."

"It's impossible for anyone to take that; I'm always watching this room." Despite her last comment, she slowly walked over to her bookcase, just in case. Seiane nearly walked into me, on the way there, but luckily I moved just in time. Though, it seemed I wasn't clear yet, because Seiane shrieked. "It's gone!"

"Meaning, I was right. Somebody is in your room. Or could be," Psinia replied, coolly. Seiane started to reply, but I slowly tip-toed out of the room before I could hear her finish. For now, it was best if I could just get away.

"But…" I thought quietly, on my way walking to Fiyeln. "This can only make one of us invisible…and I'm guessing Fiyeln plans to use it for me." But it didn't matter, I'd insist on letting Fiyeln use it. Hopefully, though, Fiyeln has some sort of plan.

I walked nearer to Fiyeln, but she didn't seem to notice me. At first I wondered why, until I remembered the necklace I was wearing. Slowly, I walked towards Fiyeln, hoping to surprise her. But she caught me before I could get very close.

"You're already here?" Fiyeln asked me, while I took off the necklace. How did she spot me when I was invisible? Does she have abilities like the rest of them? **Was **she like the others? I had no time to think about that, now, because she continued. "I can see things that are invisible. That's all I can do though, so it's not really anything. You can do something, too. Everyone can. Even though there are so many different abilities—good and useless ones, that it's very rare to have the same one as somebody else." Fiyeln explained to me.

Me? Have a power? "But, how do I use it?" I stammered. "I mean, practically all of the population doesn't know that powers exist, and can't even use theirs even if they wanted to. For everybody, powers are only in movies and books."

Fiyeln nodded. "It's hard to unlock your power. And it can sometimes be very painful, as well. Even if they did believe in powers, probably more then half of the population **wouldn't** want to unlock it, if it's painful." I nodded, slowly. "Everybody used to believe in powers, and many people actually had them. But as technology in the world grew, people's willingness to try to get there own powers shrank. Everybody grew lazy, and weak. Eventually, nobody wanted to even try, and as time grew, nobody even remembered that it is possible."

I was surprised, but what Fiyeln said did have some truth in it. People probably were braver—definitely a lot less lazy—back when there was so little technology. But how could they just say 'well, I don't want to do anything special or weird' just like that? "That's stupid! How could they just not want to do it just because it's a bit painful?"

Fiyeln looked thoughtfully. "Well, it's much more then a bit painful. I never expected it to hurt, really, but it does, it hurts a lot. It's as painful as…" Fiyeln closed her eyes; trying to think of a way to describe it. "It hurts just about as much as it hurts to feel a pistol go through your body. Actually, it probably hurts more. But it doesn't hurt for a very long time, luckily."

Then I understood why nobody wanted to feel that pain. "Oh." I replied, simply. But I still wanted a power, despite the fact that it hurt that much. "But still…"

Fiyeln looked around. "Good, but we're going to have to find someplace where nobody's going to hear us." I immediately agreed with Fiyeln. There was no way I wanted to get caught anytime soon!

Fiyeln lead me through the darkness, occasionally making a turn. Sometimes we'd see a door, floating amidst the darkness, but we never entered any. I hadn't completely gotten used to the darkness, yet, and it felt so weird. I was used to walking outside, where you could see things, other then doors, like birds, or trees, or even buildings were better then this!

"How long," I whispered quietly to Fiyeln. "Are we going to be walking for?" She looked at me thoughtfully before replying to my question. Boy, she was actually a lot different from the bubbly Janice that I thought she was.

"Only a little while longer; there's a turn somewhere over there, and then we make a few more right and left turns, go straight a little bi—" I stopped her mid-sentence.

"That doesn't sound like a little while longer!" I cried, "In fact, it sounds like a long while longer!" She glared at me for a moment, before replying.

"Shh," She whispered, as quietly, looking at me, annoyed. "Do you want us to be found out?" It was too late, though, and in front of us stood, none other then…

Tsuinami.


End file.
